Official 1998 Sea Ray Sundancer 290 Thread

AFD said:
gtfireftr,

my boat (right before total engine failure) was about 6-8 seconds to plane from 7knts to 22ish knts before i would back down. that was just wife and I and our 6month old so not a lot of people weight. i have 5.0 alphas with 21 pitch 3 blade stainless props. these are heavy boats but mine has no genny and i always had it full of fuel and water but empty holding tank. the first 2 seconds, nothing happened but once those 21's started catching, it would pop right up.

my secret was full in on the drives then i backed them out 3 quick bumps on the switches, i never touched my tabs until i was up and running, keep your boat clean and light and as much of your weight on board up front as far as possible.[/QUOTE

So we were able to get some time in today.
I found being able to get on plane was as followa, and hopefully you guys will chime in.
Pushed throttles up to about 4k rpm, the bow csme down with the usr of ghe tabs.
The sweet spot seems to be 38-3900. Running strong at about 26-28 mph.
Question??? Is this too high rpm to sustain, or just how they run.
Seems to want to loose plane at about 3k rpm.
Any advice is appreciated
Click to expand...
 
i kept my plotter in knots and i could hold 20.5 in dead calm water but any chop and the lowest i could hold was 22 knots. this was playing with drive and tab trim though. if i remember correctly 3200-3400 seemed to be mt sweet spot around 26 knots. again, this is memory and i dont have much of one.
 
AFD said:
i kept my plotter in knots and i could hold 20.5 in dead calm water but any chop and the lowest i could hold was 22 knots. this was playing with drive and tab trim though. if i remember correctly 3200-3400 seemed to be mt sweet spot around 26 knots. again, this is memory and i dont have much of one.
Click to expand...
so I guess I am now t that far off. Plus you have 5.0's.
I was just concerned about running at 3800 for an extended period.
But I guess that's how they run.
Thanks.
 
magstang1 said:
I cruise at least 3600.
Click to expand...
Well I guess I think I am ok then.... It was pretty choppy, and she came on plane about 4k rpm. Backed it down and found that around 3700 or so was the sweet spot for her...
Thanks for the replies.....
I thought I saw a post with rpm and approximate speed, but I could not find it.....
 
I have 4-blade stainless props on twin 5.0's, and I can carry a plane at no less than 3400 rpm. But the boat seems so happy at about 4000 rpm.
 
Tacoma290 said:
I have 4-blade stainless props on twin 5.0's, and I can carry a plane at no less than 3400 rpm. But the boat seems so happy at about 4000 rpm.
Click to expand...
Well that is pretty much where I am at as well.... She is happy about 3800 or so.....This puts me at about 28 mph.....
Thanks for replying...
 
again, my memory is hazy at best with exact rpm's but i do remember quite clearly on an absolute glass day being able to maintain 20.5knts but it took some tab and drive help to do. really i was just bored and messing with things while my 6month old was sleeping.(she would pass outwith the wind,motion and humm from the engines)
 
Do you guys know if the transom locker should drain overboard? Mine gets a ton of water into it and I see the channel around the outside but it doesn't seem to seal much. The other day I had water streaming into the engine room from what looked to be the transom shower water hookups. After I looked further it was clear that it was actually the foam that is attached to the "ceiling" of the rear area under the transom locker. I'm wondering if the water is finding it's way in from there. Unfortunately it drips directly onto one of the grounding blocks so it needs to be fixed.

my gas struts are shot which I'll be replacing, maybe that would help pull the locker door tighter.
 
The transom locker drains to the swim platform. There is a very small opening (more of weep hole) in the center that can get blocked with debris. Yes the transom locker does collect water.
The problem with the transom locker is that the door doesn't have a dam on the upper portion so rain collects into the locker, then drains out the weep hole onto the swim platform. I haven't come up with a good solution to making a better dam.
 
Tacoma290 said:
The transom locker drains to the swim platform. There is a very small opening (more of weep hole) in the center that can get blocked with debris. Yes the transom locker does collect water.
The problem with the transom locker is that the door doesn't have a dam on the upper portion so rain collects into the locker, then drains out the weep hole onto the swim platform. I haven't come up with a good solution to making a better dam.
Click to expand...

Ill check the hole tomorrow. My problem is between the genny and battery bank on the port side the boat ever so slightly leans that way, which causes the water to collect to that side of the locker.

I wonder if that is not my problem though. The sound deadening foam attached to the underside of the locker area and below the freswater shower was soaked so bad it was running into the engine room at much more than a drip. I thought maybe the runoff was making it's way into the transom shower holder and down but when I looked in it I didn't see anything collecting. Might have to do some testing with the hose.

We use the aft curtain as opposed to the full enclosure so that is the runoff point for all the rain.
 
I put some dry deck mats in my locker to keep things elevated and a channel for the water to pass. I was just washing it out the other day and the water was coming out the gutter on the starboard side and dumping on the swim platform. It did seem that if the boat listed to port, the water collected.
 
Any of you had experience with the JR Marine coverplate gimbal swivel shaft replacement?

Magstang1: Nice solution with the dry deck mats. I'll borrow that.
 
I replaced my pin with a SS one last year - made my own plate. It was actually easier than I was expecting. It's very heavy so I built a cradle to hold it and just slid it back. I ordered the socket for the gimbal ring on-line - Other than that and bellows adhesive it was pretty straight forward.
 
alwhite00: Thanks, that gives me confidence since one of the drives needs a new pin (steering is sloppy on Port OD, and drive can be pushed side to side). I've checked the arm inside which is rigid with no slop, so the best conclusion is that the pin needs to be replaced, or the gimbal ring is worn, or both. Either way means either the engine comes out or I need a hole in the OD to replace the pin. At this time, I vote for the hole/plate solution. I will replace the carbon steel pin with stainless.

Another issue I am dealing with is where the remote oil filter assembly meets with the block. There is an oil leak and the only access to that fitting on the port side is to move the water tank which means the batteries need to come out. At least that will give a chance to clean that part of the engine bay!
 
Sorry no one has weighed in. Never rented a rug doctor. We have pets so we own a carpet cleaner for the house. Yes I've used it for the boat, but you have to be careful since the carpet used isn't exactly the toughest stuff in the world. I used the upholstery attachment only.
 
I was down at the boat yesterday doing just general maintenance and fluid checks in the engine room and had the pleasure of checking the oil in the genset. What a miserable experience just to get to the dipstick. I know there is the oil drain hose and I will most likely use my drill pump to pump out the old oil but how do you guys fill her back up? I was thinking using the same pump in reverse to fill it through the drain hose. Either that or the port side manifold on the port engine will be coming off because I can barely get my arm down there to open the fill cap.
 
A long piece of flexible tubing stuck on the end of a transmission funnel.

Its not the most accessible spot.
 
Hi All -

Thinking about installing air conditioning in our 290. I had 3 questions;

1. What are the chances this thing is pre-ducted/plumbed for a/c (life would be good if we were that lucky).

2. Can any of you with factory installations tell me the locations of; the unit, the return, the output ducts?

3. What size unit did the factory install?

Thank you!
 
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